Basketball family matriarch Rosetta Bonner dies at 88

I have had the opportunity to watch some very special athletes during my nearly 40 years of covering high school sports in the St. Louis area.

In addition to witnessing the accomplishments of these athletes, I have also gotten to know many of their parents and family members over the years.

One of those truly special individuals was Rosetta Bonner, the matriarch of one of the top basketball playing families in St. Louis. I was very sad to learn that Rosetta passed away last week at the age of 88.

The most well-known family member is Rosetta’s son Anthony Bonner, the former Vashon High and Saint Louis University star who spent nine years in the National Basketball Association.

I have known Anthony for nearly 40 years and whenever I see him at any kind of event, the conversation always starts with me asking him one question.

“How’s Mom?” 

I didn’t want to know about anything else until I got a report on how Mrs. Bonner was doing. She had a beautiful soul with an outgoing personality that just drew people to her.

“She was like everybody’s mom,” said Daryl “Pee Wee” Lenard, a local basketball legend and close family friend. “She was always full of life and full of laughter. She was bold and very confident about life. We lost a special one.”

Rosetta Bonner was a constant presence at any game that a Bonner family member was playing in. She loved basketball and she loved her family. She was a regular at high school games, college games and even the summer league games at the Bonner League. When you walked into the gym, you didn’t have to look for her. You would hear her loud, raspy voice and say to yourself, “Yes, Mrs. Bonner is in the house.”

She was a wonderful lady, but she was always one who told you what was on her mind. If something needed to be said, she didn’t hesitate to speak her mind.

“Everyone could relate to her because she was real,” Anthony Bonner said. “She was the loudest and most vocal person at the games and she was so supportive of us. And she would tell you what she thought. She was always herself at all times.”

Mrs. Bonner also had a sense of humor that was off the charts. It was quick and it could be biting. I can attest to this personally because she got me one time at a game nearly 30 years ago. I mean she got me good.

It was back in 1995 when I was doing radio play-by-play for Public High League basketball games on KATZ. On this night, the late Richard “Onion” Horton and I were broadcasting a Vashon game at Gateway Tech. One of the Wolverines top players was Rosetta’s grandson Lamont Bonner. He was wearing these thick goggles during the game. I made the comment to Onion that Lamont looked a little like Steve Urkel, from the 90’s sit-com Family Matters.

A couple of weeks later, I was back in Gateway Tech’s gym for another Vashon game. As I walked into the building, I heard this loud voice calling my name. I knew exactly who it was. It was Mrs. Bonner.

“Earl Austin! Earl Austin! I know your big (butt) wasn’t calling my grandbaby Urkel on the radio last week.” That entire section broke out in laughter. And guess what. So did I. All I could do was walk over into her waiting arms to give her a hug. I got a kick out of her always addressing me by my full name.

One other moment that I will cherish with Mrs. Bonner came in 1994 when her husband Isaac passed away. I remember going over to the house and spending a few hours with her. I just sat and listened to her talk about her husband.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the family members and friends of Rosetta Bonner. We loved her and we are going to miss her very much.

Visitation for Rosetta Bonner will be Friday, Sept. 5, from 9-10 a.m. at Friendship Missionary Baptist  Church, 5597 Etzel Ave., St. Louis. A funeral will be held immediately following visitation. Mrs. Bonner will be interred at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery.